Hi. This is an excerpt from my 'Promotion 101' piece. You can read more about promotion in the marketing tab of the site! If you or your band are just starting out, playing out can seem like a pretty daunting process, especially if you’re the sensitive artist type. While some folks feel perfectly fine playing to the handful of locals at the pub down the street, you can be sure that the folks that booked your show booked you for a reason - to bring people in the door. If you’re playing to an empty house, the club’s bills aren’t getting paid, and the chances of you being invited back to play are about the same as the chances the townie sitting at the bar will buy your record. There are certain unavoidable events (competing shows, acts of God, etc.) that every performing artist has to deal with, but there are also a number of very basic grassroots-type things that you can do to publicize your show, get people in the door, and make the club happy to have you. As this is promotion 101, we’re going to assume you haven’t really played out yet, and that your local market is what you’re looking to conquer. The first rule of thumb for a successful show is to INVITE YOUR FRIENDS. It may sound too sales-ey, disingenuous, presumptuous, or whatever. However, this is the music industry, and no matter what role you play in it, you’re going to have learn that no matter how distasteful it may seem, self promotion is the key to success. The number one thing you should do is to invite everyone you personally know to your show twice - once a week or two before the show, and again the night before preferably through e-mail as well as a personal call. Before your music has a chance to speak for itself, the people that are going to go see you play are there to see you personally. Hopefully you’ll pull off what you’re trying to pull off on stage, and your friends will turn on their friends to what you're doing, and you’ll have the beginning of a little fan base. And of course these friends will mark the beginning of your mailing list, which you will keep up religiously. Once you’ve exhausted your personal address book, it’s time for some external publicity. Making posters or counter cards is pretty easy. In no way do these have to be Hatch Show Print, thick stock, 5-color metallic ink jobs. Some really great posters can be made on the down low if you are creative and have access to a cheap copy shop. But, as always, the devil is in the details – there are certain things you must mention in the poster: Who? Where? When? How Much? Age Restriction? If someone somewhere has ever said anything nice about your band, it doesn’t hurt to give people a quote either as a point of reference, but it’s definitely not a necessity. Once the posters are together, distribution is the next step. Try to find friendly, like-minded, public businesses that are cool with you hanging posters or distributing counter cards. In marketing land, someone who likes to use clichés might call this ‘fishing where the fishes are.’ Independent businesses are a good place to start - coffee shops are usually good, independent record stores, cool clothing stores, bars, etc. Your return on investment is higher if you spend some time thinking about where these should go. Another good idea would be to distribute some cards outside of a larger band’s show that you feel ‘shares the same artistic sensibility’ as you. Think your music sounds like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? It might be a fair idea to hang outside after their show to promote your band as well.

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